Call o' th' Wild
Call o' th' Wild is the 115th arc in Housepets!. At 50 comics, it is the second longest single-arc in the series. Characters *The Wolves Pack **"Four Finger Discount" Jack **Poncho **Miles **Lucretia **"Darth Vader Sanchez" **Rockstar Hawk **North Star **Daryl **Other Daryl **Uncle Deadeye *Lana Milton *King *Bailey *Olive *Ace *Gale *Pueblo *Zach *Custom Ink Plot With Keene having stepped down from the Equal Chance Program, Lana shifts into the second stage of the program by dismissing the Wolves Pack from their security detail jobs; encouraging them to get jobs of their own. While Poncho and Jack argue, Lana points out that she wants them to mingle among the humans and encourage them to become more civilized. Jack discloses this to Miles, only to find out that he has been preparing by taking an online course towards getting a teaching degree. Meanwhile Lucretia has signed the cubs up for school, but they are unwilling to go, saying that they don't plan for the future. Miles confides in King, saying he's worried on whether if they should go through with the plan. King recalls his past where he was unsure of what he was going to do in life, and how he drifted along for years (while making sure Miles knew that he used to be human). King suggests that Miles instill the fear of returning to the wild into the pack, which gives Miles the idea to go camping. King decides to join Miles which concerns Bailey, but King admits he loved camping when he was younger, and his rose-colored glasses admiration for it even weirds Bailey out. King, Bailey and the Wolves head into the forest to go camping (with Rockstar playing on a Nintendo Switch). Poncho asks Miles why they're doing this, and Miles responds it's to help them discover what they want to do in life (although all Poncho wishes is to meet a mate). In a rock cave above, a cougar with a facial scar, named Gale, watches the pack. The cougar's cub, named Pueblo, points them out, Gale recognizes Miles and angrily declares that he had given up the territory years ago and she won't let them come back without a fight. While King sets up the campsite, Miles encourages Daryl and Other Daryl to go hunting, since Other Daryl ate all of the snack cakes he'd brought. Hiding in the bushes, Gale tells Pueblo that they are going to take out the pack one-by-one to keep them from attacking them back (though she becomes less concerned when she sees the cubs fighting over the Switch). After failing to steal from King's barbecue, Jack arranges the Daryls and the cubs into a hunting pack to look for food. As the Daryls discuss their future job prospects, Gale captures them both, tossing them into a pit. "Deevee" and Rockstar discover a "rabbit" and plan to capture it, but become concerned when the others start "worshipping" him. Pueblo comes up to Rockstar, distracting him long enough for Zach to get away, but when Rockstar goes to grab him, Gale captures him too and throws him in the pit. While Lucretia and Miles snuggle, pondering about their choices, "Deevee" is the next to be taken by Gale, stating that he's ready to go to school as he lands face-first in the pit. Jack is relaxing in the middle of the clearing when he hears a rustling. He feigns sleep before surprise attacking Gale, whom he recognizes. Although Jack tries to explain to her that the situation is a misunderstanding, she doesn't listen to him and he prepares to fight her with one paw (which fails as he too gets captured). Poncho and North Star discover Jack is missing and "elk tracks," but Poncho becomes suspicious and the two split off. Gale attacks a figure that seems to be Poncho, only for her to discover it was a decoy and she is ensnared in a net trap. Poncho also recognizes Gale, a flashback revealed she had stitched up the wound which became his scar, and becomes enamoured by her. Gale leads Poncho on, giving Pueblo enough time to cut Gale down so she can knock Poncho out and capture North Star. As it grows dark, Miles becomes worried about the pack and goes out to find them. King tells him to stop being a worry-wart, unaware that Gale has taken Lucretia (though she manages to bite Gale's paw). Gale slips into King's tent and prepares to capture the sleeping family, but Bailey wakes up and grabs Gale's throat, threatening that if she touches her pups she'll be wearing her intestines like a mardi gras necklace. Miles becomes more despondent as he searches for the pack to no avail, and tearfully sits on a log. Gale appears before him, telling him to meet her in her lair. A flashback reveals that Gale and Miles used to share their territory, but Gale became furious when Miles started a family with Lucretia as the area was unable to support more predators. Miles also did not think about Gale or ask about her feelings on the matter, which made Gale even angrier (while she was stitching the wound which would be her current facial scar). Gale had told Miles to leave and never return. This led to the moment where Lucretia told Miles "our life sucks." Miles ascends to Gale's cave, where he finds the pack captured in the pit. As he goes to look for a way to free them, Gale attacks him from behind and the two start fighting, with Gale intending to kill Miles. She states that he has stolen from her for years and had to pass up on having a family, though Daryl counters she has a kid now, and that the worst part was he didn't say goodbye to her. While Miles tries to keep himself from hurting Gale, she manages to get the upper hand and start strangling him. Miles apologizes to the pack, saying he was wrong to think that the wild was better, and that they can now appreciate civilization more. Gale stops attacking, questioning that moving to civilization is an option for her. Six months later, Gale is working at a firm in an advisory position threatening a subordinate over the phone. Miles visits Gale, asking how she's doing. She admits to still being upset, but is too distracted to think about it. She inquires about everyone else and Miles reveals the family has settled into new jobs: Miles became a substitute teacher, the cubs are going to school, Natalie is working in a call-center, Jack is working in a pawn shop, the Daryls are now chefs (wearing full-body nets), "Deevee" is streaming games online, Lucretia is writing a blog, and Poncho is "working" at the zoo part-time (with the wolf he first met in A Holiday at the Zoo). Gale tells Miles she's still angry at him and wishes she can make things like they used to be. Miles invites her to Thanksgiving, and she accepts. King inquires about Gale, and Miles says they're patching things up. Bailey notices King has gotten much better with being around the Wolves, but he states the trip proved he's more than capable of handling anything...until Lana appears and reminds King that he needs to get a job. Events *The Wolves Pack are dismissed from their jobs as security and take jobs in the real world. *It is revealed that before the Wolves entered the Equal Chance Program, they shared their territory with a cougar named Gale. Trivia *This is the second longest arc in Housepets!, behind Real Stories of the K9PD and surpassing Jungle Fever by 13 strips. *Obvious Pink Floyd Reference alludes to "We don't need no education." *The wolves have a red/blue [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Switch Nintendo Switch] with the game [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_Odyssey Super Mario Odyssey], which first appeared in 12 Days of Housepets!. *The alt-text in The Hills Have Eyes suggests that Gale is a descendant of Ptah, kept ambiguous in the same way Mungo is said to have been a descendant of Satau. **The name is also a reference to the movie of the same name. *If You Like It Then You Shoulda Put Your Pee On It references the song Single Ladies. *The alt-text in Blame It On The Alpha comes from the Strong Bad Email Montage from Homestar Runner. **The alt-text in Sneak Attack references the Strong bad Email Virus. *The alt-text in Innocent Questions references Buttons and Mindy from Animaniacs. *The events of An Eloquent Observation take place directly before the past events of An Eloquent Speaker. *As explained in Another Intermission, the comic strips Face Of The Enemy and An Eloquent Observation were edited to add more sepia tone and add a "Years Ago" tag. This was to make it more clear that the events took place in a flashback, as it confused many readers at first. *This arc reveals that Natalie's mother passed in a car accident. *The alt-text in Do It For The Team references the song Rock and Roll, commonly played at sporting events. *The wolf Poncho is seen with in Talking To The Camera was first introduced in From The Inside Out. Category:Story Arcs Category:Comics Category:2018 Category:The Wolves Pack Category:20+ Page Arcs